Monday, May 14, 2012

What I Learned From the Psych Out 2011 Conference

By Melissa Farrell

Seeking a new vision for
mental health care, I attended the Psych Out 2011 conference at the City
University of New York (CUNY)’s Graduate Center in Manhattan on June 21, 2011.
The conference was sponsored by the PhD Program in Environmental Psychology at
the Graduate School and University Center of CUNY. The main organizer of the
conference was Lauren Tenney, along with Dally Sanchez and Eva Dech, and many
others.

Robert Whitaker, a
journalist, spoke about his monumental book, Anatomy of an Epidemic.
Whitaker was critical of modern medication treatments for mental illnesses.
Whether you’re for medication or against it or whether you have found some kind
of middle ground, Whitaker presented valid data about the subject. Whitaker’s first
book on mental illness was Mad In America:Bad Science, Bad Medicine,
and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill published in 2001. In it, he presented the history of
the mentally ill in this country going back to the nation's beginnings.
Whitaker argued that society does not have time for moral treatment. It is much
cheaper and more time efficient to use medications even though they are not as
effective as we would like to think.

Dr. Philip Sinaikin, through
his book, PsychiatryLand provided a raw assessment of the field of
psychiatry and recommended that drug therapy be replaced by empathic
talk-therapy. He gave us a handout that included the stories of individuals
termed “Poor Pete” and “Helpless Bill.” According to Sinaikin, no one tried to
get to the root of their problems. Instead they were given medications and
sometimes forced to take them against their will. Dr. Sinaikin described PsychiatryLand
as a Disney Land, which has been hyped-up as a great place, but in reality
is just a hot, overcrowded, noisy and expensive amusement park. Similarly,
PsychiatryLand is where millions visit to reap the benefits of a rapidly
advancing “brain science” to identify and treat the underlying physical cause
of painful emotional conditions. Since we don't know exactly how the brain
works, let alone how to fix it, is this not also a case of “image” supplanting
“reality?”

I also learned about Soteria
House in Alaska, a home-like alternative to hospitalization for people who are
newly diagnosed or having their first break. The original Soteria House was
created back in the 1970s in California by a psychiatrist named Loren Mosher. He
advocated for a home where patients who were suffering from “extreme states” could
heal as naturally as possible. The environment was meant to be a safe haven with
caring workers who were not trained in the medical model. Research indicated that
more patients were able to recover in this model without drugs, though some were
not. If a person was not able to recover without drugs, attempts were made to
help the person minimize their need for medication. The National Institute for
Mental Health (NIMH) eventually withdrew funding for this project possibly
because it is cheaper to give someone medication and discharge them then to
allow them to heal naturally in this type of setting.

Ann Rider, MSW, CPRP
presented and discussed many revolutionary ideas in mental health including the
use of “Narrative Therapy.” Narrative Therapy focuses on the stories of people’s
lives and is based on the idea that mental health problems arise in social,
cultural and political contexts. Each person produces the meaning to their life,
so critical for recovery, from the stories that are available in these contexts.

Darby Penney, one of the
authors of The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From A State Hospital Attic
presented a social history of everyday patients in a state hospital and what
they went through. It chronicled various individuals’ lives from what their
lives were like before and what became of them after being admitted to a state
hospital in New York. They were people with careers, ambitions and livelihoods
at various points in their lives. These people “fell from grace” as so often happens
in the mental health system. I am happy that their stories live on.

Hopefully, the Psych Out conference
will promote the inclusion of alternatives to traditional mental health practice
in a realistic and practical way that does more good than harm for patients’
well-being.